EM 330: Mechanics of Materials - 5.

0 Bending

5.0 Bending
Bending normally causes stress in members such as beams or shafts and as such if bending
is to be quantified, magnitudes of these stresses have to be established. A discussion on
how to find the variation of the shear and moment in members that are undergoing
bending. Once the internal moment is determined, maximum bending stress can be
calculated. First we will consider members that are straight, have a symmetric cross section,
and are made of homogeneous linear elastic material. Thereafter, special cases involving
unsymmetric bending and members made of composite materials will be considered.
Consideration will also be given to curved members, stress concentrations, inelastic
bending, and residual stresses.

5.1 Shear and moment diagrams

Members that are slender and support loadings that are applied perpendicular to their
longitudinal axis are called beams. In general, beams are long, straight bars having a
constant cross-sectional area. Often they are classified as to how they are supported. For
example, a simply supported beam is pinned at one end and roller supported at the other, Fig.
5.1, a cantilevered beam is fixed at one end and free at the other, and an overhanging beam has
one or both of its ends freely extended over the supports.

Figure 5.1: Beam support configurations

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EM 330: Mechanics of Materials - 5.0 Bending

Beams are considered among the most important of all structural elements. They are used
to support the floor of a building, the deck of a bridge, or the wing of an aircraft. Also, the
axle of an automobile, the boom of a crane, even many of the bones of the body act as
beams. Because of the applied loadings, beams develop an internal shear force and bending
moment that, in general, vary from point to point along the axis of the beam. In order to
properly design a beam, it therefore becomes important to determine the maximum shear
and moment in the beam. One way to do this is to express V and M as functions of their
arbitrary position x along the beam’s axis, and then plot these functions. They represent
the shear and moment diagrams, respectively. The maximum values of V and M can
then be obtained directly from these graphs. Also, since the shear and moment diagrams
provide detailed information about the variation of the shear and moment along the beam’s
axis, they are often used by engineers to decide where to place reinforcement materials
within the beam or how to proportion the size of the beam at various points along its
length. In order to formulate V and M in terms of x we must choose the origin and the
positive direction for x. Although the choice is arbitrary, most often the origin is located
at the left end of the beam and the positive x direction is to the right.
Since beams can support portions of a distributed load and concentrated forces and couple
moments, the internal shear and moment functions of x will be discontinuous, or their slopes
will be discontinuous, at points where the loads are applied. Because of this, these functions
must be determined for each region of the beam between any two discontinuities of loading.
For example, coordinates x1, x2, and x3 will have to be used to describe the variation of V
and M throughout the length of the beam in Fig. 5.2. Here the coordinates are valid only
within the regions from A to B for x1, from B to C for x2, and from C to D for x3.

Figure 5.2: Beam support and loading configurations – determination of shear and
moment due to bending

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EM 330: Mechanics of Materials - 5.0 Bending

Beam Sign Convention. Before presenting a method for determining the shear and
moment as functions of x, and later plotting these functions (shear and moment diagrams),
it is first necessary to establish a sign convention in order to define “positive” and “negative”
values for V and M. Although the choice of a sign convention is arbitrary, here we will use
the one often used in engineering practice. It is shown in Fig. 5.3. The positive directions are
as follows: the distributed load acts upward on the beam, the internal shear force causes a clockwise
rotation of the beam segment on which it acts, and the internal moment causes compression in
the top fibers of the segment such that it bends the segment so that it “holds water”.
Loadings that are opposite to these are considered negative.

Figure 5.3: Beam loading configurations and sign convention – determination of shear
and moment due to bending

5.2 Bending Deformation of a Straight Member

In this section, we will discuss the deformations that occur when a straight prismatic beam,
made of homogeneous material, is subjected to bending. The discussion will be limited to
beams having a cross-sectional area that is symmetrical with respect to an axis, and the
bending moment is applied about an axis perpendicular to this axis of symmetry, as shown
in Fig. 5.4. The behavior of members that have unsymmetrical cross sections, or are made
of several different materials, is based on similar observations and will be discussed
separately in later sections of this chapter. Consider the undeformed bar in Fig. 5.5a, which
has a square cross section and is marked with horizontal and vertical grid lines.

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EM 330: Mechanics of Materials - 5.0 Bending

Figure 5.4: Beam deformation in a straight member

When a bending moment is applied, it tends to distort these lines into the pattern shown
in Fig. 5.5b. Here the horizontal lines become curved, while the vertical lines remain straight
but undergo a rotation. The bending moment causes the material within the bottom portion
of the bar to stretch and the material within the top portion to compress. Consequently,
between these two regions there must be a surface, called the neutral surface, in which
horizontal fibers of the material will not undergo a change in length, Fig. 5.4. As noted, we
will refer to the z axis that lies along the neutral surface as the neutral axis.

Figure 5.5: Beam deformation in a straight member

From these observations we will make the following three assumptions regarding the way
the moment deforms the material. First, the longitudinal axis, which lies within the neutral
surface, Fig. 5.6a, does not experience any change in length. Rather the moment will tend
to deform the beam so that this line becomes a curve that lies in the vertical plane of
symmetry, Fig. 5.6b. Second, all cross sections of the beam remain plane and perpendicular
to the longitudinal axis during the deformation. And third, the small lateral strains due to

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the Poisson effect will be neglected. In other words, the cross section in Fig. 5.5 retains its
shape.

Figure 5.6: Beam deformation in a straight member

With the above assumptions, we will now consider how the bending moment distorts a
small element of the beam located a distance x along the beam’s length, Fig. 5.6. This
element is shown in profile view in the undeformed and deformed positions in Fig. 5.7.
Here the line segment ∆𝑥, located on the neutral surface, does not change its length,
whereas any line segment ∆𝑠, located at the arbitrary distance y above the neutral surface,
will contract and become ∆𝑠 ′ after deformation. By definition, the normal strain along ∆𝑠 ′
is determined from Eq. 5.1, namely,

… [5.1]

Now let’s represent this strain in terms of the location y of the segment and the radius of
curvature r of the longitudinal axis of the element. Before deformation, ∆𝑠 = ∆𝑥, Fig. 5.7a.
After deformation, ∆𝑥 has a radius of curvature 𝜌, with center of curvature at point 𝑂′ ,
Fig. 5.7b, so that ∆𝑥 = ∆𝑠 = 𝜌∆𝜃. Also, since ∆𝑠 ′ has a radius of curvature of 𝜌 − 𝑦, then
∆𝑠 ′ = (𝜌 − 𝑦)𝜃. Substituting these results into the above equation, we get

… [5.2]

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EM 330: Mechanics of Materials - 5.0 Bending

Figure 5.7: Beam deformation in a straight member

−𝑦
Since 1⁄𝜌 is constant at x, this important result, 𝜖 = ⁄𝜌, indicates that the longitudinal
normal strain will vary linearly with y measured from the neutral axis. A contraction (−𝜖) will
occur in fibers located above the neutral axis (+y), whereas elongation (+𝜖) will occur in
fibers located below the axis (-y). This variation in strain over the cross section is shown in
Fig. 5.8. Here the maximum strain occurs at the outermost fiber, located a distance of 𝑦 =
𝑐 from the neutral axis. Using Eq. 5.3, since 𝜖𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑐⁄𝜌, then by division,

… [5.3]

This normal strain depends only on the assumptions made with regard to the deformation.

Figure 5.8: Normal strain distribution

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EM 330: Mechanics of Materials - 5.0 Bending

5.3 The Flexure Formula

In this section, we will develop an equation that relates the stress distribution within a
straight beam to the bending moment acting on its cross section. To do this we will assume
that the material behaves in a linear elastic manner, so that by Hooke’s law, a linear variation
of normal strain, Fig. 5.9a, must result in a linear variation in normal stress, Fig. 5.9b. Hence,
like the normal strain variation, 𝜎 will vary from zero at the member’s neutral axis to a
maximum value, 𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥 , a distance 𝑐 farthest from the neutral axis. Because of the
proportionality of triangles, Fig. 5.9b, or by using Hooke’s law, 𝜎 = 𝐸𝜖, and Eq. 5.3, we
can write

… [5.4]

This equation describes the stress distribution over the cross-sectional area. The sign
convention established here is significant. For positive M, which acts in the +z direction,
positive values of y give negative values for 𝜎, that is, a compressive stress, since it acts in
the negative x direction. Similarly, negative y values will give positive or tensile values for
𝜎.

Figure 5.9: (a) Normal and (b) Bending strain variation during deformation

Location of Neutral Axis. To locate the position of the neutral axis, we require the
resultant force produced by the stress distribution acting over the cross-sectional area to be
equal to zero. Noting that the force 𝑑𝐹 = 𝜎𝑑𝐴 acts on the arbitrary element 𝑑𝐴 in Fig.
5.10, we have
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EM 330: Mechanics of Materials - 5.0 Bending

… [5.5]

Figure 5.10: Bending stress variation during deformation

In other words, the first moment of the member’s cross-sectional area about the neutral
axis must be zero. This condition can only be satisfied if the neutral axis is also the
horizontal centroidal axis for the cross section. Therefore, once the centroid for the
member’s cross-sectional area is determined, the location of the neutral axis is known.

Bending Moment. We can determine the stress in the beam if we require the moment M
to be equal to the moment produced by the stress distribution about the neutral axis. The
moment of 𝑑𝐹 in Fig. 5.10 is 𝑑𝑀 = 𝑦 𝑑𝐹. Since 𝑑𝐹 = 𝜎𝑑𝐴, using Eq. 5.5, we have for
the entire cross section,

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EM 330: Mechanics of Materials - 5.0 Bending

… [5.6]

The integral represents the moment of inertia of the cross-sectional area about the neutral
axis. We will symbolize its value as I. Hence, Eq. 5.6 can be solved for 𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥 and written
as

… [5.7]

where
𝝈𝒎𝒂𝒙 = the maximum normal stress in the member, which occurs at a point on the
cross-sectional area farthest away from the neutral axis
M = the resultant internal moment, determined from the method of sections and the
equations of equilibrium, and calculated about the neutral axis of the cross
section
c = perpendicular distance from the neutral axis to a point farthest away from the
neutral axis. This is where smax acts.
I = moment of inertia of the cross-sectional area about the neutral axis

𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥 ⁄ −𝜎
Since 𝑐= ⁄𝑦 Eq. 6–9, the normal stress at any distance y can be determined
from an equation similar to Eq. 5.8. We have

… [5.8]

Either of the above two equations is often referred to as the flexure formula. Although
we have assumed that the member is prismatic, we can conservatively also use the flexure
formula to determine the normal stress in members that have a slight taper. For example,
using a mathematical analysis based on the theory of elasticity, a member having a
rectangular cross section and a length that is tapered 15° will have an actual maximum
normal stress that is about 5.4% less than that calculated using the flexure formula.

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